This invention relates generally to apparatus for mounting a fan motor within an air conditioning unit, and in particular, within a packaged terminal air conditioner (PTAC).
In many hotels and motels the air in rooms or other similar areas is conditioned by packaged terminal air conditioning units. This type of unit is generally contained within a sleeve that passes through an outside wall of the room being serviced. The unit is separated into an indoor section and an outdoor section by a divider wall. Each section, in turn, contains a heat exchanger and a fan for conducting air through the associated heat exchanger. A single fan motor is employed to drive both the indoor fan and the outdoor fan via drive shafts that extend outwardly from the front and the rear of the motor casing. The motor is housed in the outdoor section of the unit to reduce the amount of operational noise within the indoor area being serviced and to more expediently dissipate motor heat to the surrounding ambient. Most sleeves are of a standard size thus limiting the amount space available in which to mount the motor fan.
The motor shaft servicing the indoor fan must pass through the dividing wall and is typically longer than that servicing the outdoor fan. In addition, the design of the two fans will be different in order to meet the demands of the indoor and outdoor sections. As a result, a certain amount of imbalance is found in the motor and fan assembly that can produce unwanted vibrations in the unit in the even the motor is not securely mounted. Because of space limitations and the general construction of the units found in the prior art, securely mounting this kind of motor with a PTAC type unit has long posed a problem in the art.
It is a primary object of this invention to improve air conditioning units and, in particular, PTAC type units.
It is a further object of the present invention to securely mount a fan motor within an air conditioning unit.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a stable and secure motor support that can be mounted within the limited space available in a PTAC type air conditioner.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a very simple motor mount for use in a PTAC type unit that will securely support a single motor for driving both fans of a PTAC type unit in a relatively vibration free manner.
These and other objects of the present invention are attained in a PTAC type air conditioning unit that has a vertical divider wall for separating the indoor section of the unit from the outdoor section and a single motor arranged to drive both the indoor and outdoor fans of the unit. The motor is supported in a motor mount having a rectangular vertically disposed panel containing an opening for receiving the motor casing therein and holes for receiving threaded fasteners for securing the mounting flange of the motor to the panel. The mount further includes a pair of side walls extending along the side edges of the panel and a top wall extending along the top edge of the panel. A vertical mounting strip extends along the outer edge of the top wall that is securable to the divider wall by threaded fasteners and a horizontal mounting strip extends along the bottom edge of the panel and is securable to the base pan of the unit by threaded fasteners.